ORIGIN

Windsor White: 351 Swapped 1962 Mercury Comet 2-Door Wagon

This 1962 Mercury Comet two-door wagon runs a 351 Windsor V8 and C6 three-speed automatic. The car looks straight and complete with solid rockers and sills, and the seller says it’s in pretty good overall condition but needs some unspecified work. These two door longroofs are relatively rare and are cool with six cylinder power—a V8 swap and refrigerator white makes this one just about perfect in our book. Find it here on The H.A.M.B. in Mooresville, North Carolina for $8k.

​The Crites style fiberglass induction hood ahnd fender sights look great and give the car a more purposeful appearance, and the four headlight front end has always been more interesting than the somewhat plain Falcon fascia. White steelies with no caps and discreet, well-judged rear exit dual exhaust hint at the big 351 within, and overall the car strikes a good note between sleepy and aggressive. The seller doesn’t specify exactly what needs fixing, but we’d guess there’s little if any bodywork needed.

​Pictures aren’t very good, but the interior seems to be in quite decent condition from what we can see. The dash shows some mild paint pitting and could stand to be polished, but it’s nice to see the original push-button radio and steering wheel retained. A trio of auxiliary gauges are ideally mounted under dash, and though we don’t see a tach a nice vintage style Sun unit would look good sitting on the steering column. The gear selector is missing its knob, but provides the opportunity to find a period hot rodding piece.

​The only engine bay shot provided is heavily cropped, but the motor looks well installed and clean. A manual rack is less of a concern when there’s a lighter straight six up front, but wrestling with non-boosted steering and brakes will make this one a workout in traffic—all part of the appeal as some might argue. Minimal extra information is given, but the seller sounds like an old guy who admits computers aren’t his thing. Phone calls are openly invited on two separate numbers, however, so getting the gritty details shouldn’t be a problem.

​Depending on what’s needed we’d consider a 4-speed or maybe even a T-5 swap, but cosmetically this thing is just about perfect in our book. Power steering, a brake booster, discs and a few choice suspension upgrades would also be welcome, but even as-is we dig it–cool ain’t free.